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Mortal Path series
Mortal Path series by Dakota Banks. Genres and Sub-Genres Urban Fantasy Series Description or Overview ✥ In the 17th century, a woman is ripped from her husband's arms, thrown in jail, and then set afire as a witch. Saved from the flames by an ancient Sumerian demon, she becomes the Black Ghost, his Ageless assassin gifted with otherworldly skills and superbly trained in martial arts. Centuries pass before Maliha Crayne finds a way out of the life she hates. If she achieves a balance between lives taken and lives saved, she'll break the demon's hold on her. If she fails, she will suffer the demon's torment ... forever. ~ Book Reader's Heaven ✥ The main character starts out this book as Susannah Layhem, dutiful 17th century wife, herbalist healer, and expectant mother without a care in the world except how to fend off her overly amorous husband during the increasingly uncomfortable end of her pregnancy. When she is falsely accused of being a witch, abandoned by those closest to her, and then suffers a miscarriage due to maltreatment and harsh imprisonment, she willingly accepts a ‘deal with the devil’ (aka the Sumerian demon Rabishu) to escape a fiery death. She becomes an Ageless assassin, killing indiscriminately at Rabishu’s bidding. Fast forward about 300 years and Susannah wants out. She finds in the fine print of her demon contract a possible way out ; if she can save as many lives as she took she will be free. She starts her life over as Maliha (pronounced Ma-lie-hah), a 007 rip-off with all the expensive toys and boys a girl could want. But Maliha is nothing like Susannah. When we first meet her, she is busy working on her tan a trying to think of new ways to pose in her bikini to attract a hottie a few feet away. She is unfortunately forced to ‘pose and run’ as a member of her network of saved lives calls in with a murder case for her to investigate. ~ Goodreads | All Things Urban Fantasy Lead's Species * Witch turned demon-assassin — "An Immortal" creation of a demon Primary Supe *Demons What Sets it Apart *Main Character wants to make up for deaths she was forcibly caused. Narrative Type and Narrators * ✥ Trailers: *▶ Dark Time: Mortal Path by Dakota Banks - YouTube *Mortal Path Book Trailers *Mortal Path: Trailer - bk #3 Books in Series Mortal Path series: # Dark Time (2009) # Sacrifice (2010) # Deliverance (2012) # Bloodletting (Expected: June 2015) Themes World Building Setting * Chicago: Maliha's home, but she travels extensively Places: * Great Above * America * New York * Washington * England * France * Florence, Italy * Constanta, Romania * Africa * Niger * Darfur, Sudan * Khartoum, Ethiopia * Vietnam * China * Wellington, New Zealand * Wayra, Peru? Supernatural Elements ✥ Demons, Ageless, witches, ancient Sumerian demon, Black Ghost, Renaissance murderess, evil cabal of madmen , , , , Glossary: * Ageless: immortals who are assassins under the command of their demon creators 'Groups & Organizations': * World Protagonist The heroine of this series is called Susannah Layhem in 1692 when she is burned as a witch, saved by a demon (Rabishu), and changed into one of the Ageless—immortals who are assassins under the command of their demon creators. Now our heroine is called Maliha Crayne by her friends and Marsha Hughes by the general public, readers of her popular Dick Stallion fiction series (her latest title is Too Big to Be True). Maliha is no longer Ageless; she is a mortal again (hence the series name), having broken her contract with Rabishu after refusing to obey his order to kill a baby. In order to save her soul, Maliha must constantly save lives—as many lives as she has taken. As an Ageless-turned-rogue, she will age a little each time she saves a life, and she risks being killed before she has evened the score. Maliha turns out to be a superhuman, as she executes black-belt karate moves, rappels from helicopters, and successfully performs seemingly impossible cat-burglar maneuvers. ~ Fang-tastic Fiction: Dakota Banks: MORTAL PATH Book Cover Blurbs ✤ BOOK ONE—Dark Time (2009): Three hundred years ago, she sold her soul to a demon. Now she wants it back. For centuries, the woman calling herself Maliha Crayne has lived a second life - as an assassin for the malevolent creature who owns her soul. A haunted killer with the blood of countless victims on her hands, she has finally discovered a way to nullify the demonic pact that chains her: If she saves a life for every one she has taken, she will be free. But if she fails, her punishments will be unspeakable, unendurable . . . and never-ending. ~ Goodreads ✤ BOOK TWO—Sacrifice (2010): A demon's enslaved executioner—a ravager of lives and souls—Maliha Crayne has been reborn, willing to sacrifice her immortality for a chance at freedom . . . and salvation. Now she has an opportunity to prevent the death of thousands—perhaps tens of thousands—to make up for the countless lives she has obliterated over the centuries. To do so, she must locate and destroy an evil cabal of madmen in possession of a weapon of unspeakable power—and survive the immortal assassins who are now after her blood. But it means reverting to the old ways and surrendering once more to the darkness. And if Maliha dies before the mission is accomplished, the hell she once knew will seem like a picnic compared to the eternal torments awaiting her. ~ Goodreads | Sacrifice (Mortal Path, #2) by Dakota Banks ✤ BOOK THREE—Deliverance (2012): Kill . . . or be damned. A demon's assassin for centuries, Maliha Crayne has gone rogue, determined to save a life for every one she's destroyed in order to free herself from an eternity of enslavement, damnation, and excruciating torment. But as the powers that sustained her in the past fade, she is wary of trusting those closest to her—especially her lover, Jake. And her closest friends are beginning to disappear, one by one. Amid her anger, suspicion, and sorrow, her life is spiraling out of control. Worse still, a beautiful Renaissance murderess is recruiting Maliha as her new assassin. Maliha is turning into a lethal puppet with an evil Immortal pulling the strings, forced to kill innocents or see her missing friends die horribly. Suddenly trapped in a moral no-man's-land, Maliha is damned if she does and damned if she doesn't . . . and time is rapidly running out. ~ Goodreads | Deliverance (Mortal Path, #3) by Dakota Banks ✤ BOOK THREE—Bloodletting (June 2015, no date): ~ Goodreads | Bloodletting (Mortal Path #4) Category:Series